Unconditional
by halicandropss
Summary: "The world would be a nicer place if everyone had the ability to love as unconditionally as a dog." A story about a boy and his dog surviving the zombie apocalypse.
1. Carl and Kona

**Disclaimer: I do not own The Walking Dead**

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Chapter One - Carl and Kona

Rick Grimes sighed as he made his journey home in his police car. The air conditioning was on full blast due to the sweltering heat, and while it was usually hot in Georgia, it was particularly scorching today. Rick was focusing on the road, one hand on the steering wheel, as he made his journey home. He let out another tired sigh; he wasn't particularly excited about going home and immediately he felt guilty for thinking it. He just didn't want to have to deal with another argument with his wife, Lori.

The arguments were almost constant lately; over literally anything that could possibly be thought of. And his son, poor Carl was trapped in the middle of it all. Carl always put on a brave face, pretended that he didn't hear their screaming match the night before while he was trying to sleep. But Rick could tell that it was bothering him greatly.

A high pitched bark drove his attention from the road momentarily to the passenger seat. Sitting in the seat beside him, attempting to escape the confines of the seat belt and the car seat, was a small puppy. The small dog was a tan brown colour, with a large amount of black coating its back and tail as well as its slightly floppy ears. The dog still had the collar on from before that stated it's name. It was a little loose on the dog and hung low on it's chest. Innocent bright, honey coloured eyes stared back at him, letting out another bark followed by a tilt of the head.

Rick chuckled and shook his head at the German Shepherd puppy. The puppy was an impulse decision on his part; he thought it'd be a nice surprise for Carl. The boy had been begging for a dog for years, and while he and Lori were still undecided on the matter, Rick figured that this would more than make up for it for now to Carl. Lori may not be happy about it but it was time to start putting their son first now instead of just seeing eachothers problems.

Rick reached over and patted the dog gently on the head. The puppy seemed to enjoy the attention as he could see it's little tail starting to bob up and down in happiness at getting some attention. Rick finally pulled into his street and then parked in the driveway in front of his house.

He rubbed his hand over his eyes, he just wanted to lay down and sleep for a good few days. He heard a whine from the dog but didn't acknowledge it until he felt something soft nudge his right hand on his lap. He opened his eyes looked down towards the puppy; it had managed to wriggle its way out of the seatbelt. The dog who started to lick his hand while glancing up at him every now and then. Rick lifted one side of his mouth into a halfhearted smile. He scratched the dog behind the ears and undead his seat belt. Letting out a breath, he reached down to pick the puppy up, "C'mon, girl. Let's go meet Carl."

Rick opened the car door, all the while the puppy kept attempting to lick his face. He leaned back slightly, chuckling at the puppy's excited behaviour, "Yeah, yeah, okay. I know, I know." He patted it's head to try and calm it but it just seemed to make the dog more excited. Rick announced his presence when he entered his home. He walked into the living room, finding Lori sitting on the sofa watching what appeared to be the news on the TV. He saw a headline say something about a strange virus spreading, but then Lori switched the TV off.

She made to greet him as she turned to him, but stopped when she saw what Rick was carrying. "Rick, what is that?" She asked, eyeing the dog in his arms.

Just by the tone of her voice, Rick could tell that she wasn't happy. But he simply shrugged his shoulders, this time allowing the puppy to lick his face, "A dog, Lori."

Lori stood up and crossed her arms over her chest, her lips formed a straight line as she pressed them together in disapproval. "Yes, I can see that, Rick. I mean, what is it doing here? Why do you have it?"

Rick went to explain, but the sound of Carl coming down the stairs interrupted him as the boy came into the living room. "Hey, dad-"

Carl stopped when he saw the puppy in his father's arms. The dog had stopped in its attempts to lick Rick's face and turned its attention to Carl. The dog tilted its head back and forth for a moment, watching him with interested honey eyes.

"A dog?!" Carl exclaimed in excitement. "You got a dog!"

Rick grinned at the happiness that his son showed at just the sight of the dog. Even Lori didn't say anything. "Yeah, a dog. She's gonna be staying with us from now on." He told Carl he beamed at him. Lori lowered her head at this statement but Rick ignored it and instead crouched down to lower the dog to the floor. He continued to address his son. "I want you to look after her, Carl," Rick told his son seriously. "She's your responsibility," He said seriously before releasing the dog, who was leaning forward in his grasp towards Carl, eagerly sniffing the air.

Carl nodded his head diligently, "Yeah, dad! I'll take great care of her!" He broke eye contact with the puppy, looking at his father instead. Rick could see that he was determined to prove that he could take care of the puppy. Rick nodded his head proudly at his son. Carl grinned again and looked back to the dog, "We'll be best friends!"

It was Lori who chuckled at this, while Rick nodded in approval. Rick then properly placed the dog on the floor and then released her. As soon as he let go of her, she made a beeline for Carl. Carl let out a loud laugh as she skidded to a stop in front of his feet as Carl sat on the floor in front of the dog. He let his hands stay out in front of him, and she immediately began sniffing his hands loudly. Her wet nose tickled his hands and caused his grin to grow even more. She seemed to determine that she liked him as she straight away began licking his hands, her tail becoming a blur with how fast it was wagging.

The dog then pushed her way passed Carl's hands and jumped into his lap. Carl let out another loud laugh, almost falling backward at the puppy's eagerness to greet Carl. The boy quickly began showing affection for the puppy; stroking her soft fur, scratching behind her ears, allowing her to lick the entirety of his face. This was the happiest he had felt in a long time.

Lori and Rick continued to watch their son's happiness grow as he cuddled the dog. While she wasn't very happy that Rick had brought a dog home, especially without consulting her first, she couldn't deny how good it felt to finally see a genuine smile and their son's face.

Lori sighed and looked at Rick, "Where did you get her from?" She asked him.

Rick rubbed the back of his head. Carl looked up then too, also interested in where the dog came from. Rick gestured to the happy dog, "She was a dog that was in training to be a police dog." Lori raised her eyebrows at this in surprise, while Carl grinned in approval of his dog. Of course his dog would be the coolest. Rick carried on though, "But her temperament wasn't right for the job so..." he trailed off for a moment, shrugging his shoulders, "they rejected her."

Carl frowned at this. He looked back down at the happy puppy. Her tongue was lolling out of the side of her mouth now as she gazed happily back at him. How could they reject her? She was so lovely and happy! Rick must have seen the questions building in Carl's eyes and began to explain, "A police dog needs to have certain traits. She started off good for a few weeks; always happy to meet new people and play, but she really wasn't interested in much else." Rick shrugged his shoulders. "She needed a home. I offered."

"Nice one, dad." Carl grinned. "She's the best!" He announced as he cuddled her some more.

"I got everything she needs in the car. Guys gave me everything back at the station." He gestured to outside where his car was parked.

"Cool! I'll go get it all!" Carl announced, placing the dog on the floor. He stood up quickly and patted his hands on his knees and grinning at the puppy, "C'mon, girl! Let's go check it out!" The dog barked in reply and then bounded after Carl clumsily.

"Make sure she doesn't go on the road, Carl!" Rick hollered after him. He rolled his eyes when he got no reply.

Lori cleared her throat. Rick closed his eyes and placed his hands on his hips as he bowed his head slightly, waiting for the beginnings of an argument. "Why didn't you talk to me about this?" She asked in a neutral tone.

Rick shook his head, "I did it for Carl. He needs this."

Lori scoffed, "Or just to get one up on me."

Rick looked towards her in annoyance, "One up on you on what, Lori?" He stepped towards her. "Anything I do isn't good enough anymore. I figured this one little thing wouldn't make that much of a difference!"

"What does that mean?" She demanded. Rick just shook his head and stepped away from her. He wished he was back in work. Lori chuckled humorlessly. "You never talk, Rick. You never say anything. Speak to me!"

"I try!" He exclaimed. He took a deep breath, quieting his voice. "I try. But whatever I say is never good enough."

Lori opened her mouth to reply but snapped it shut when Carl and the dog came barging back in. Carl was carrying her bed that had a few blankets and some of her toys in it. The puppy was right on his heal, looking up at him, eyes directly on him the whole time, tail wagging madly. And Carl's grin was wide and bright, all his teeth showing as he looked back at the dog. But it seemed like the dog could sense something amiss in the Grimes household, as she averted her gaze from Carl to his parents who were standing a few feet from eachother and turned away from one another. Her tail slowed to a slow back and forth swing, till it stopped completely.

Carl followed the dog's gaze, his smile frowning as he saw the tension both his parents were exhibiting. He sighed; they were fighting again. But rather than say anything about it, Carl turned and stomped up the stairs with his dog's items.

The puppy watched him go, glancing back at the boy's parents and then back to the stairs before quickly trotting after him. She struggled to get up the stairs, and stumbled and fell a few times before finally making it up all of them. The puppy glanced around, wondering where the boy had gone before sniffing the air and ground, following the boy's scent to a door that was slightly ajar.

The puppy tilted her head, seeing the boy sitting on the floor, her bed before him. But his knees were pulled to his chest and sobs could be heard. Without further motivation, the dog moved towards the room. She pushed her head through the gap, causing the door to squeak as she pushed it open more.

Carl wiped his tears quickly, expecting it to be his parents coming to check on him, but when he looked up it wasn't his parents that he saw, but his new pet. A breathless gasp escaped him and he sat up a bit more, turning towards her. Instead of running towards him in excitement of meeting someone new like she had minutes before, she stepped forward almost tentatively. Carl held a hand out towards her and she gently rested her cheek against his palm.

Carl smiled again, smaller than previously, but none the less happy and grateful that the puppy had come to see him all on her own accord. More confident now, she stepped closer to him, placing her front paws on his knees so that she could lean up and lick his face gently. Carl chuckled at her as she licked away his tears. He brought her into his lap and hugged her to his chest, pressing a gentle kiss to her forehead.

He placed her in his lap and she gazed up at him, her tail starting to wag again. Carl scratched the back of her head and she leaned back into it, almost falling over making Carl laugh. When she nearly fell, Carl noticed that she had a collar on. He tilted his head at the black band around her and saw a tag dangling off of it. He picked it up, squinting his eyes at what was written on the metal.

 _Kona_

"Kona..." The dog's floppy ears perked at this, head tilting and sitting up properly. "Hey, Kona, I'm Carl." She barked as if she were replying. Carl chuckled, "It's nice to meet you too." He picked up her right paw and shook it in his hand.

Kona looked down at what he was doing, watching intently. She then looked back up at him and then promptly jumped towards his face and began licking him again. Carl laughed again, catching Kona in his arms, hugging her too him.

He pulled her back slightly after she had calmed down, holding her up so that he could look into her bright eyes. There was almost like an understanding between them; they would be there for eachother now.

Carl brought her closer, bringing her forehead to his and closing his eyes.

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 **Hello, and welcome to my new TWD story. This has been an idea that's been in my head for months now and it's something I'm really interested in doing. This will be a story that focuses mainly on Carl and his relationship with his dog through the apocalypse. I can't promise updating constantly, but I will update when I can.**

 **Thanks for reading!**


	2. Three Weeks

**I do not own The Walking Dead**

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Chapter Two - Three Weeks

It had been three weeks since Kona had joined the Grimes family and she seemed to fit in perfectly. Lori had gotten used to having the German Shepherd puppy around, even if she got under her feet most of the time. Rick found that Kona had given out a positive vibe, on account of the fact that the dog was constantly happy and full of energy. Though she could never take away the bitterness he felt towards Lori, but he and his wife began to try their best to make their bad feelings towards one another other less obvious due to how much happier their son had become with the new family member.

Carl had taken his duties as caretaker for Kona very seriously; he made sure that her food and water bowl were filled everyday and didn't need reminding or to be told to do so, made sure that she was as comfortable as she could be (even if she did prefer to sleep at the bottom of his bed rather than her dog bed), and had insisted going with his mother to the vet so that Kona could have her check-ups and vaccinations.

Carl loved spending every second with the dog, the two quickly becoming best friends. He enjoyed taking her for walks before school and after, always willing to take his time with her as she liked to sniff and investigate everything she came across. Kona was always eager to play games with him like fetch (even if she didn't fully understand yet that she was supposed to bring the ball back), or tug of war or just chasing eachother in the back garden. It was great even when they were just relaxing together, Kona enjoying being stroked on her fur and Carl finding comfort in doing so. They were inseparable.

That Friday morning Carl completed his before school routine; Lori woke him up (which would also wake Kona up), get himself washed and dressed with Kona waiting patiently for him. He could usually hear the squeak of one of her toys as she entertained herself until he was finished. Once done the two made their way downstairs to the kitchen, Carl quickly going to the back door so that Kona could go outside and do her business.

"Morning, mom." Carl greeted Lori as he went about putting fresh water and food in Kona's bowls.

Lori smiled back at him, "Morning, baby." She replied as she went about making a quick breakfast for Carl and Rick. "Sleep okay?"

Carl nodded as he set the dog bowls back on the floor by the back door just as Kona came trotting back in. "Yeah, really good. Kona keeps my feet warm." He petted Kona on her head. She licked his hand a few times before taking some gulps from her water bowl.

Lori chuckled as she placed a plate of toast and bacon down on the table for Carl. "You're like two peas in a pod, huh?"

Carl took a seat at the table, smiling up at his mother and then glancing back at Kona who had now moved on to her food. "Yeah, definitely." He took a bite of his toast. "She's coming with me when I move out." He announced as he munched on his toast.

Lori raised an eyebrow at this, "And when exactly do you plan on moving out?"

Carl shrugged, "I dunno, like when I go to college or something."

Lori chuckled and shook her head, "Honey, I don't think a college will let you take a dog with you."

This didn't seem to faze the boy. "Doesn't matter. Wherever I go, she goes."

"Well, that's very sweet," Lori told him and reached over and pressed a kiss to his forehead. Carl went to continue eating his breakfast when he felt a nudge against his left leg. Looking down, Carl found Kona sitting by his feet, looking up at him with big, round eyes. She tilted her head and shuffled a little closer towards him, her tail starting to wag slowly. Carl looked back to his plate and realised that she must want some of the bacon on his plate.

Sure enough, she followed his gaze to his plate and let out a small whine. Carl couldn't resist the puppy dog eyes and made to reach for a piece of bacon to give to the dog, but just as he was about to Lori said, "Don't even think about it, Carl." She told him as without even turning around from what she was doing, "She needs to understand that she can't have our food."

Carl sighed and looked towards his mother, "I'll just give her a small piece." Carl pleaded as his father entered the kitchen.

Rick ruffled his son's hair in greeting as he passed to go to the coffee maker. "I'm sure a little bit won't do any real harm," Rick told Carl. "But don't make it a constant thing. Your mother's right in that she needs to understand what she can and can't have."

Carl smirked at his father's words, taking it as permission to give Kona some bacon. So he quickly ripped the bacon in half and offered Kona one piece while he ate the other half. Kona's tail began to wag madly as he offered her the piece of bacon but she waited until it was right in front of her face before opening her mouth and taking it from her owner's hand. Without hesitation she gobbled it up, Carl chuckling at how she barely chewed it before it was gone and she was looking back up at him for more.

Rick looked amused at the interaction between the boy and the dog as he made his morning coffee, but he could feel eyes burning into the side of his head. He knew it was Lori glaring at him. He sighed tiredly; it was too early for this.

"Morning," He grumbled.

Lori cleared her throat and narrowed her eyes at him, strengthening her glare. "Do you always have to go against everything that I say?"

Rick huffed and took a gulp of his coffee. It was still too hot but now Rick wanted to get to work as quickly as possible. "I don't know what you're talking about."

Lori scoffed, "I just told our son that he can't give his dog our food. And then you went completely against that."

Rick rolled his eyes, "It's not gonna kill her."

"That's not the point!" Lori hissed. "The point is that you constantly go against everything that I say. I said we shouldn't have a dog right now, and what do you go and do?" She gestured to Kona beside Carl, both of whom were watching warily. "You go and get a damn dog! And I'm trying to set some ground rules for Carl and Kona and you tell him something completely different!" Her voice was gradually getting louder, and Kona whined in uncertainty beside Carl, shuffling closer to the boy.

It seemed like both parents seemed to forget that their son was still in the room as the argument just seemed to get more escalated. "Carl knows not to give her our food, Lori. Do you really think that one little bit is gonna change any of that?"

"This isn't just about the dog, Rick!" She exclaimed. "This happens constantly, and I am fed up with it!"

Rick rolled his eyes. "What is it about then, Lori?! Explain it to me!"

Lori bit her lip and shook her head at him, "You're never here. You're never here, and you think you can just bring a dog home and everything will be alright."

Rick's face fell at this, anger quickly taking over him. "Is that what you think? You think that I got that dog because I'm never here?" He shook his head defiantly at her. "No. No, I got Carl that dog because of us! Because all we do is argue, Lori."

"You tell yourself that, Rick." Lori scoffed. "Don't deny the fact that you're never home. That you hardly see your son. That you hardly ever see me." She took a step back, holding her hands up, making Rick think that maybe she was ending the argument and Rick felt that that would be a blessing at this point. But instead, she muttered, in front of their own son, "Sometimes I wonder if you even care about us at all."

For a moment, Rick thought that he hadn't heard her correctly, that he was mishearing things. But no, the way she was looking at him like it was him who was the most horrible human being... His mouth fell open, trying desperately to come up with something, but his voice was lost. He blinked his eyes rapidly, and moved his gaze around the kitchen, his eyes landing on his 12-year-old son, who was gripping Kona to his chest.

Rick didn't look to Lori to know if she felt any guilt or remorse for saying those words in front of their son, it was too late anyway. The damage had been done.

Carl looked heartbroken by the words, his eyes darting back and forth between his mother and father. He could see Rick was about to say something to him, but Carl simply knew he needed to get away for a while before he was forced to go to school. So he quickly stood up with Kona in his arms, leaving the kitchen and making his way through the lounge, grabbing Kona's lead and dashing out of the house as fast as he could.

As soon as he stepped outside into the Georgia heat he placed Kona onto the ground, and with shaky hands, he hooked her lead onto her collar. Kona watched him intently, clearly noticing his negative mood. Carl started walking, tugging on her lead for her to follow.

Kona did so, although she had to trot to keep up with him because he was taking such long strides. In his anger, Carl didn't appear to notice Kona's struggle to keep up with him. He was just so fed up with his parents' constant arguing. He wasn't sure how long he could put up with it, and he was getting worried that his parents felt the same.

Kona continued to attempt to keep up with her owner, keeping her eyes locked on him the whole time. Carl picked up the pace, rendering Kona to begin to run to keep up with his large strides. While Kona loved to run normally right now she seemed to understand that something was wrong with Carl. She let out a whine to the boy, trying to get his attention. It seemed to work as Carl looked down at his dog, his feet faultering when he saw how she was desperately trying to keep up with him.

Carl stopped immediately in the middle of the sidewalk, his gaze locked on Kona's. He sighed and sat himself down on the pavement of the sidewalk, wrapping his arms around his knees. He could feel the irritating burn of tears starting in his eyes.

Kona took a seat beside him, attempting to nuzzle her nose to his stomach. She tried to use her paws to push herself closer to him. At first, Carl thought that she wanted attention, but when he moved his hands and she simply laid her head in his lap he realised that she was attempting to comfort him.

He gulped down his tears and shook his head at his dog. Letting out a breath, he promptly pulled her all the way onto his lap and wrapped his arms around her. She didn't fuss or attempt to lick him, simply sat there as the boy pressed his forehead against hers.


	3. The Beginning of the End

**Disclaimer: I do not own The Walking Dead**

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Chapter Three - The Beginning of the End

Carl found himself going to school in a foul mood. The whole ride to school with his mother was awkward; Lori desperately tried to force conversation the two of them, but Carl wasn't interested. He would've much rather stayed home with Kona (who was currently digging around in the backseat since Lori didn't trust her yet to stay home alone).

Carl turned back to Kona, reaching his hand out to her. This caught her attention and she tried to reach towards him, but she was strapped in with a seat belt, though Carl was able to scratch her behind her ear.

"Are you even listening to me?" Lori asked. Carl just shrugged his shoulders, keeping his attention on his dog. Lori sighed, turning her attention back to the road. "I'm sorry about this morning. It got a little... out of hand."

Carl huffed out a breath in annoyance at his mother's pathetic apology. His attention stayed on Kona as she managed to lean forward enough to lick Carl's hand. "It doesn't matter."

Lori didn't seem to know what to say to this, as her mouth opened and closed, trying to formulate a response. Pulling up to the school, Carl gave his mother a quick kiss on the cheek and then reached back towards Kona. He undid the seat belt and pulled her into his arms, hugging her tightly. This resulted in Kona licking his face excitedly, her tail wagging madly. Carl chuckled and kissed her forehead. "Be a good girl. I'll see you later and we can play then, okay?" Kona simply licked his face more in response.

He set the dog in the front seat, strapped her in, waved once more to his mother and then got out of the car and closed the door.

Lori watched him leave without a chance to even say goodbye to him. She glanced down at the newest member of their family, who was staring at her innocently with her tongue lolling out the side of her mouth. She huffed, "The dog gets more of a goodbye than his own mother." She shook her head and let out a laugh. "Let's go."

Kona barked in response as Lori drove away from the school.

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The day was dragging all too slowly for Carl's liking; he didn't particularly enjoy school on the best of days, but being in a foul mood just made the day even worse. Plus, a few teachers and students were missing from school, some kind of virus going around. It had made the day slow and boring; he'd rather have a teacher actually be there and do a lesson rather than just sit there and do simple math problems or homework to pass the time.

At least he would have no homework to do once he got home and could go out and play with some friends with Kona. That meant not dealing with his parents' drama, which the boy was more than happy to avoid. Despite this, he was desperate for the bell to ring and for his mom to come and pick him up.

He glanced at the clock for what felt like the hundredth time that day; five minutes until the end of school. He tapped his pencil against his desk, his knee bobbing up and down as well in anticipation to see get home and play with Kona. Carl kept his gaze intently on the clock, listening intently for the bell when a sudden coughing fit caught his attention instead.

Turning to the source of the coughing he saw that it was his English teacher, Miss. Howard. She was pretty new, only being at the school for six months. Carl liked her a lot because she was friendly, funny and pretty easy-going. She was quite young and Carl's first memory of her was her introducing herself as Judith.

Carl frowned as she coughed and coughed and coughed. She had a tissue in her hand and was using it to cover her mouth. She was ghostly pale and sweating and was practically hunched over her desk as she coughed. Carl bit his lip in worry and looked around. He noticed his classmates seemed worried about their teacher and had all stopped reading to watch her.

Making up his mind, Carl made to stand up and see if their Miss. Howard needed him to get the nurse or something, but the school bell rang before he could open his mouth. Miss. Howard simply flapped her hand towards the door, managing to weakly tell the students, "Go on home." Students did as she said, but Carl was slower in gathering his things.

He made his way towards the desk, biting his lip and wringing the strap of his bag in his hands tightly. "Are you sure you're okay, Miss Howard?"

The English teacher looked up at his question. Carl gulped at her glassy eyes. It was almost like she couldn't focus on him. She blinked a few times and took a few deep breaths, though her chest still rose and fell harshly as if she couldn't get enough air to her lungs. Miss. Howard shook her head slowly, "I'm fine. Probably shouldn't have come in today..." She had to take a breather at the end of her sentence. She swallowed deeply, "Go on now. I'm sure your mom is waiting for you."

"Um... do you want me to get you a glass of water, or, or the nurse?" He didn't know why he was stuttering so much. There was nothing to be nervous about anyway.

The teacher shook her head more firmly this time. "No, it's okay. I'm fine. Go play with that little dog of yours, Carl."

Carl hesitated for a second, contemplating whether he should go and get the school nurse quickly before she left. She seemed to notice he was still there and forced out a smile to him. "It's probably a bad chest infection. I'll sleep it off by Monday."

Carl gave her a little smile in return and began to make his way towards the door to leave. "Okay. Hope you feel better."

"You're a sweet boy, Carl." Miss. Howard said quietly as he reached the door.

Carl blinked his eyes at this statement. She sounded sad. Carl waved back at her and made his way out of the classroom and out of the school altogether for a few days. Hopefully Miss. Howard felt better soon.

As he made his way out to meet his mother who was waiting for him by her car he noticed a few kids appearing to be in the same condition as Miss. Howard was. This must be a really bad sickness if it was spreading around the school like this.

His attention was pulled away from a boy that was coughing in his mother's arms by a loud high-pitched bark, one he knew anywhere. Turning towards the sound of the bark Carl saw Kona a few yards away from him with his mother and Shane. Carl was curious as to why Shane was there but his attention was completely on Kona who was now barreling towards him as his mom had accidentally let go of her lead.

Carl got down onto his knees and opened his arms. Kona sped up and as soon as she was close enough she lept into his arms and immediately began licking his face. "Hey, girl!" He greeted his dog. She let out a little yip and bounced away from him playfully. "We can play when we get home." Carl laughed as he saw what she wanted already. He patted her head and then reached for her lead. "C'mon. Let's go see mom." He began walking with Kona trotting by his side.

Carl had seen Shane gesture towards him and Kona as they were getting closer to them both. He waved at his mother, his bad mood from this morning appearing to be lifted. His mother met him halfway and Carl smiled at her as she got down to his level.

"Carl, honey, I..." She practically choked out, words seeming to be lost to her.

Carl frowned in confusion at this. "Mom, what's wrong?" Kona tugged on her lead, trying to get Carl's attention.

Tears had gathered in his mother's eyes but he could see that she was trying to hold them back. She took a few deep breaths, steeling herself to tell her son the bad news. "It's your dad, honey... he..."

"Dad? He's in work, isn't he?" He glanced down at Kona as she continued to pull on her lead/ "Stop, Kona," He told her as firmly as he could. She seemed to understand and quickly sat down to wait.

Lori blew out a breath and put her hands on his shoulders. "Yeah, he was. You see, the thing is... he... he got hurt. He got hurt really bad and now he's in hospital."

Carl's face completely paled at this. "What? Hurt? W-w-what do you mean? I-I-I don't-"

"He got shot, baby." She told him quietly. "He's in the hospital now and the doctors are doing everything they can to help him."

Tears began to sting his eyes, his bottom lip beginning to wobble at the news of hearing his father's life-threatening condition. Lori placed a hand on his cheek and pulled him into her arms to comfort him. Carl wrapped his arms around his mother tightly as he began to sob uncontrollably.

Kona tilted her head as the two embraced and cried openly. She didn't understand what had happened but she could see that it was something bad. The noises that her boy was making were not sounds of joy or happiness, but ones of sadness or pain. Kona stood to full attention suddenly; had someone hurt her boy? He had seemed fine when they greeted one another five minutes ago. But now he was crying and holding onto his mother.

She whined in worry, pawing at the boy and mother's feet. The two pulled back and Lori kissed his forehead and wrapped an arm around his shoulders, holding him to her. Carl continued to cry and Kona yelped at this. Carl tightened his grip on the lead as the family made their way over to Shane. Lori had said that they were going to the hospital to get all the information on Rick, but Lori had insisted that Carl would not be staying long and would be staying with her next door neighbour for a little while.

Lori piled Carl and Kona into the back seat and strapped the boy in, seeing as he was too devastated to do anything else other than cry at the moment. Kona pawed at Carl who sniffled and glanced at her. She tentatively stepped into his lap, curly up and licking his hand gently.

Carl sobbed harder at this and pulled her to him and hugged her tightly. For a moment he thought that maybe he was holding her too tightly, but she didn't appear to mind as she simply settled in his arms quietly. Hs tears mixed in with her fur as he scrunched some it in his grasp, burying his head in the crook of her neck.

Carl wished he'd only known that this was only the beginning of the end.

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 **Thank you so much for the reviews, faves and follows! I really do appreciate it! Sorry I've been so slow with this story. A lot of stuff has been going on and I have had zero time for anything. Anyway, I hope you enjoy this chapter.**


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